This study sought to determine if an online course designed and delivered in Second Life can meet the needs of higher education students with dyslexia. The course design incorporated strategies from Gagne' and Briggs' principles of instruction, Gagnon and Collay's constructivist learning design, Powell's key learning needs of…

Defines activity theory as a socio-cultural and socio-historical lens through which the interaction of human activity and consciousness within its relevant environmental context can be analyzed. Describes how activity theory can be used as a framework for analyzing activities and settings for the purpose of designing constructivist learning…

An instructional systems approach to learning draws on principles of instructional design and development but also draws from theories such as behaviorism, information processing, cognitive theory, adult education, and systems theory among others. This paper focuses on how instructional designers can benefit from awareness of different adult…

Virtual reality is an immersive, interactive medium that manipulates the senses in order provide users with simulated experiences in computer-generated worlds. The visual design of virtual reality is an important issue, but literature has tended to stress the medium's instructional potential rather than setting forth a protocol for designing…

This paper presents a model for designing computer-based simulation environments within a constructivist framework for the K-12 school setting. The following primary criteria for the development of simulations are proposed: (1) the problem needs to be authentic; (2) the cognitive demand in learning should be authentic; (3) scaffolding supports a…

A World Wide Web-based course at Winona State University (Minnesota) in the history of modern Germany (1818-1990), offered during the 1997-98 academic year, showcased several teaching innovations. Taught in "studio mode," with a workstation for each student, the course combined seminar discussions with electronic communication via e-mail…

This paper reports on the first phase of a research project undertaken by a team at the University of South Australia and Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand) to design and deliver educational applications of digital learning media and to identify criteria for assessment of the efficacy and quality of the use of such media from a…